MIYAZAKI, Japan, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods, playing a very poor first round Thursday, warned the competition at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Miyazaki, Japan, that he would be a factor the rest of the way after finishing seven shots behind leader Darren Clarke.
The world No. 1 struggled throughout his round before two birdies on the back nine got him to even-par 71.
Clarke carded a sparkling 7-under 64 to take a two-shot lead, but Woods, who will attempt to push his latest round to the back of his mind, insists this is an event he wants to win.
"To shoot even par (here) is a mini-miracle," he said. "I didn't hit it well and didn't putt well, but managed to salvage the round with a couple of birdies near the end."
Woods had four birdies and four bogeys at the 6,917-yard Dunlop Phoenix Country Club.
"I didn't put myself out of the tournament," he said. "There were a lot of guys who didn't make par and I still have a chance to win this."
Clarke, competing in his fifth Dunlop Phoenix, fired eight birdies and one-putted on nine holes to take a two-shot advantage over England's Justin Rose and local duo Kaname Yokoo and Tsukasa Watanabe.
Clarke, a native of Northern Ireland, had six birdies to make the turn in 30. After his only bogey of the day on the 16th, he closed with two more birdies.
"The changes they've made to this course make it a lot more tricky," Clarke said. "But I putted as well as I have in years and got a couple of breaks that I made the most of."
Sergio Garcia was three shots back with a 67 while defending champion David Duval ran up two bogeys and a double-bogey but still managed a 69 to lie five off the pace.
